Connector



March 20, 1956 M. ALDEN 2,739,293

CONNECTOR Filed Jan. 2s, 1952 g sheets-sheet 1 yl'I/IIIIA'IIII(l gingMarch 20, 1956 M. ALDEN 2,739,293

CONNECTOR Filed Jan. 23, 1952 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 United States PatentCONNECTOR Milton Alden, Wellesley, Mass. Application January 23, 1952,Serial No. 267,827

6 Claims. (Cl. 339-196) This invention relates to electrical connectorsand more particularly to connectors of the multiblade type whichaccommodate a plurality of conductors.

Objects of this invention are to provide an electrical connector whichcompletely isolates the contact making elements from each other, whichsubstantially reduces the danger of short circuiting between the leadsthereto, which will withstand relatively high voltages, which providesstrain relief for the leads, which simpliiies the soldering of the leadsto the contact making elements, which is compact and small in size,which is attractive in appearance, which is economical to manufacture,which is adapted to mass production techniques, and which advances theelectrical arts generally.

A connector according to a broad aspect of the invention comprises abody of an insulating material, such as a suitable molded plastic,through which extends in parallel relationship a plurality of spacedapertures. An electrical contact is enclosed in each of the respectiveapertures so that the insulation surrounding a conducting lead, solderedor otherwise connected thereto, extends into the associated aperture.The contacts are restrained in the body apertures by means of a coverplate which is attached to one end of the body partially to cover theapertures so that the contacts are secured without interfering with theleads.

in another aspect, the apertures are trefoil or clovershaped in crosssection, two of the sections or foils of each aperture forming a chamberin the body to accommodate a respective contact, the third foil forminga channel communicating laterally with the chamber throughout its (thechannels) length and extending only partially through the body,accommodates the correlated lead and soldered connection. The coverencloses only the two foils or chambers of each aperture so as not tointerfere with the lead which protrudes from the third foil.Alternatively, the portion of each aperture enclosing the contacts isblind and the aperture portion receiving the connecting lead extends allthe way through the body, the lead being inserted in one end thereof toattach to the contact. The cover plate is fastened to the other end ofthe body to enclose the opposite end of the aperture portions receivingthe leads, openings being provided in the cover plate in alignment withthe blind portions ofthe respective apertures to give access to thecontacts.

ln a further aspect a hollow housing fits one end of the body to bringthe leads out at substantially right angles to the axes of theapertures, for example by curving the inner surface of the housing tobringthe leads out through an opening in the side thereof so-that whenthe leads are pulled, as when the connector is disconnected, tnemagnitude of the stress exerted upon the soldered connections betweenthe leads and the contacts is reduced, and the stress is restricted to adirection parallel to the aperture axes in which direction the solderedconnections are best able to withstand the stress.

2,739,293 Patented Mar. 20, 1956 These and other objects and aspectswill be apparent from the following description of several speciicembodiments referring to drawings wherein:

Fig. 1 is a plan view of a female embodiment of the invention;

Fig. 2 is an end View of the embodiment illustrated in Fig. l;

Fig. 3 is a side view with the housing partially broken away of theembodiment illustrated in Figs. l and 2;

Fig. 4 is a sectional view on line 4-4 of Fig. 3 with the cover platepartially broken away;

Fig. 5 is a sectional view on line 5-5 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 6 is a bottom view of the embodiment shown in Fig. l;

Fig. 7 is an exploded isometric view of the embodiment illustrated inFigs. l through 6;

Fig. 8 is a side elevation view in partial section with parts brokenaway of a male embodiment of the invention;

Fig. 9 is an isometric view of one of the male contacts; and

Fig.' 10 is a partial sectional view of an embodiment showing analternate construction.

The lirst embodiment of the invention chosen for the purpose ofillustration is a female connector comprising a body 1G (Fig. 7)consisting of a substantially rec tangular block molded or otherwiseformed from an insulating material such as a suitable plastic and havinga liange l2 at one end thereof. Molded in spaced relationship in thebody it) are six parallel apertures 14 whose cross sectional shapethrough the greater part of their length is similar to a clover leaf ortrefoil as is best shown by the dotted lines in Fig. l. Two of thesections or foiis of each aperture 14 form a chamber into which anopening enters, as ist shown in Fig. 5, the walls of the openingadjacent the top end of the body being beveled to facilitate theentering of the contact portion of a mating connector which will bedescribed in detail hereinafter.v The third section or channel of eachaperture is blind, that is it is offset from the opening and does notextend all the way through the body lll.

The chamber portions of the apertures 14 enclose respectively contactmaking elements such as the female contacts 16, each of which is formedby rolling the ends` of the cross member of a T-shaped strip of aresilient conducting material back upon themselves thereby to form asocket portion 18 flat-sided as is shown in Fig. 7. The stern of theT-shaped strip is also bent back upon itself to form a tab 20 which isprovided with a small hole for receiving the bare tip of a parallel,overlapping insulated conductor such as the lead 22 and interconnectingtherewith. After the top of the lead 22 is inserted in the hole, the tab2t) is bent to crimp the lead so that it can be soldered without movingthe joint. Solder is also drawn under the tab 2li by capillary action togive further assurance of `tmdisturbed cooling of the joint.

After the leads 22 are soldered to the tabs Ztl, the respective socketportions 18 are inserted in the two foils or chambers of theircorrelated apertures 14 tab end first, so that each of the solderedjoints is at the bottom' of a blind foil or channel as is shown in Fig.5, with the insulation of the lead 22 extending well into the aperture,thereby precluding the possibilityr of short circuits between thevarious leads.

The above described construction also provides strain relief for thecontacts lo and the soldered connections, the v contacts and walls ofthe respective channels restricting the corresponding leads so thatv thestress upon each of and twisting of the contacts. The stress upon thecontacts 16' and solderedA connections is further" reduced'by' bringingthe leads 22 out of the connector at substantially right angles to theaxes of the apertures 1d. To this end, the' leads 22' are brought outthrough recesses suchas the notches in the periphery of a coverplate 24which is held against one end ofthe body by two threaded drive pins 26so that the ends' of apertures 14 are partially covered to restrain thecontacts 16 therein, the blind foils being aligned'.with the notches inthe cover plate 24 through which the leads 22 protrude.

A hollow housing 28 of an insulating material tits over the same end ofthe body 1t! as that to which the cover plate 24' is attached, the sidesof the housing extending over the sides of the body to contact the bodyflange 12. The outer surface of the housing 2S is provided with threestilening ribs 29'. The inner surface of the housing 2S is curved as at30 so as to conform with the curvature of the leads 22 which are broughtout through an opening 32 in one side of the housing. An integral boss34 extends inwardly from the curved surface 3i) and is provided with anaperture 35 (Fig. 7) which accommodates a threaded drive pin 36. The pinvextends through an aperture in the cover plate 24 to engage the body 10thus securing the housing to the body.

In Fig. 8 is shown a nat-sided mating male connector for the femaleconnector described above. lt will be apparent that with the exceptionof the contact making elements, the same components are used in both thefemale and male connectors, either Vconnector readily being changed tothe other type of connector by a substitution of the suitable Contactmaking elements. The male contact making element, which is shown indetail in Fig. 9, consists of an elongated strip of resilient conductingma terial which is bent upon itself to form two loops and with its endslying adjacent each other to form a bayonet 116. One of the ends is madelonger than the other end to bear against the backing member 24. Theshorter end is provided with an aperture or opening for the bare tip ofa correlated lead 22 which is soldered thereto as at 120 (Fig. 8). Theapertured end is foreshortened so that the soldered connection 120 restsat the bottom of the blind foil whereby the same insulating and stressrelief advantages are realized with the male connector as thosedescribed in detail with respect to the above described femaleconnector.

An embodiment incorporating an alternate construction is shown in Fig.10 wherein the body 10a is also provided with apertures extendingtherethrough, but the portion of the aperture accommodating the socketportion of the contact flat-sided 16a is madeblind and the lead 22aconnected thereto is brought out through a circular portion of theaperture. The cover plate 24a is provided with rectangular apertures 14awhich are proportioned to admit the male contact of the mating plugwithout permitting the female contacts 16a to escape from the aperture.

The cover plate 24a is held in position by means of a drive pin 26awhich engages the body 10a. It will be understood that it is alsopossible to substitute a male contact similar to that shown in Fig. 9which will project through the rectangular apertures in the cover 124.f'

It should be understood that the present disclosure is for the purposeof illustration only and that this invention includes all modificationsand equivalents which fall within the scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. For enclosing a plurality of contacts each having an interconnectionwith the overlapping end of a lead, a holder comprising a body ofinsulating material having spaced, parallel internal chambers forreceiving said contacts, openings' through one side of said body to saidchambers lrespectively and a channel offset from each of said openingsfor receiving a lead, each of said charnbers and channels opening on theother side of said body, each channel communicating laterally with achamber throughout its length so as to admit said contact, lead lid' andi'fiIt-I Wholly' ih S'id Cl'i'lb l'l'd channel, and said channel Beingshaped to be laterally closed by said contact so as to surround saidlead and support the lead against movement laterally of said contaci.

2. For enclosing a plurality of contacts each having an interconnectionwith the end of a parallel and overlapping lead, a holder comprisingabody of insulating material having spaced, parallel, internal chambersfor receiving said contacts, openings through one side of said body tosaid chambers respectively and a channel offset from each of saidopenings for receiving a lead, each of said chambers and channelsvopening on the other side of said body and each channel communicatinglaterally with a chamber throughout its length so as to admit saidcontact, lead end and interconnection wholly in said charnber andchannel, a cover member attached to one end of said body to cover eachchamber thereby to secure the contacts therein without interfering withthe leads, and a housing" attached to the same end of the body as thecover member, said contact engaging the overlapping portion of the leadand cooperating with the channel to hold the lead on an axis paralleltosaid chamber, and said housing holding a'n adjacent portion of thelead substantially at right anglesto the axis of the chamber forming aright angle end which tends to reduce the stress exerted upon theconnection of the lead to its respective contact.

3. For' enclosing' a plurality of fiat-sided contacts each havinganinterconnection with the overlapping end Vof a lead, a holdercomprising a body of insulating material having spaced, parallelinternal chambers for receiving said contacts, openings through one sideof said body to said chambers respectively and a channel offset fromeach of said openings' for receiving a lead, each of said charnbers andchannels opening on the other side of said bodyv and each channelcommunicating laterally with a 'chamber throughout its'length so as toadmit said contact, lead end and inter-connection wholly in said chamberand channel, a cover member attached to one end of said body to covereach. chamber thereby to secure the contacts therein without interferingwith the leads, and a housing attached'to the same endv of the body asthe cover member to bring` the leads out substantially at right anglesto the axis of the chambers `thereby tending to reduce the stressexerted upon the connections of the leads to their respective contacts,said chamber conforming closely to the shape of said flat-sided contactthereby to prevent twisting of the contact and lead and said channelbeing shaped to be laterally closed by said contact so as to surroundsaid lead and support the lead against movement laterally of saidcontact.

4. A connector comprising a plurality of contacts each` adapted forinterconnection with the overlapping end of a lead, a holder comprisinga body of insulating material having spaced, parallel internal chambersfor receiving said. contacts, openings through one side of said body tosaid chambers respectively' and a channel otset from each of saidopenings for receiving a lead, each of said chambers and channelsopening on the other side of said body and each channel communicatinglaterally with a charnber throughout its length so as to admit saidcontact, lead end and interconnection wholly in said chamber andchannel, a cover member attached to one end of said body to cover eachchamber thereby to secure the contacts` rounding said lead andsupporting said lead against movement laterally of said contact.

5. A connector comprising a plurality of contacts, for' each contactaparallel and overlapping insulated lead, auf

interconnection between each contact and lead, a holder comprising abody of insulating material having spaced, parallel internal chamberst'or receiving said contacts, openings through one side of said body tosaid chambers respectively and a channel offset from each of saidopenings, each of said chambers and channels opening 0n one side of saidbody and each channel communicating laterally with a chamber throughoutits length so as to admit said contact, lead end and interconnectionWholly in said chamber and channel, with the lead insulation extendinginto the channel, a cover member attached to one end of said body tocover each chamber thereby to secure the contact therein withoutinterfering with the leads, and a housing attached to the same end ofthe body as the cover member, said contact engaging the overlappingportion of the lead and cooperating with the channel to hold the lead onan axis parallel to said chamber and said housing holding an adjacentportion of the lead substantially at right angles to the axis of thechamber forming a right angle bend which tends to reduce the stressexerted upon the connection of the lead to its respective contact.

6. For enclosing a contact element having a substantially overlappingparallel lead element connected thereto, a holder comprising a bodyhaving a chamber portion for receiving said contact, a channel portionparallel to and laterally communicating with the chamber portionthroughout the length of the c-hannel portion so as to admit the contactand lead end wholly in said chamber and channel portion respectively,said body having openings to said portions respectively and an abutmentopposite the end of one portion to conne one element therein, and acover member detachably connected to the other end of said body toconfine the other element in its respective portion, said channelportion being shaped to be laterally closed by the contact element insaid chamber portion so as to surround the overlapping end of said leadelement and support it against movement laterally of said contactelement.

References Cited in the le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS1,485,175 Ellis Feb. 26, 1924 1,658,861 Slade Feb. 14, 1928 1,886,199Kulka Nov. 1, 1932 2,318,230 Jones May 4, 1943 2,563,775 Del Camp Aug.7, 1951

